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>>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: taking your emails on any topic at anytime. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: lot of emails today about the question of the roll of the federal government at a % time of natural disaster like this.

roy asks if we give responsibility back to the states, are we still the united states? good question. paul says i think reality should be pointed out to people of the south, they get most of those big storms they right now are getting more from the federal government than they pay in. if mitt romney were elected, how could they pay for their disasters when they can't pay their own way now. darlene asks just watching some of the rescues from the storm, i didn't see one stockbroker on hedge fund manager risking their lives. yeah, good point. we'll talk about some of the gay and lesbian issues in the campaign with terry next, and

joined by fawn johnson from the national journal.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: trick or treat. hey, good morning, everybody. happy halloween, and welcome to the "full court press" this wednesday october 31st. good to see you today, we're coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours on current tv with the "full court press," your sane alternative in the morning, so you don't have to watch that conservative crap on the news or cable television. you have it right here on

current tv, the "full court press." good to have you with us. we have a lot to cover today, including the fact that mitt romney is still accusing president obama of helping chrysler and gm move jobs to china. chrysler says it is a big lie. gm says it is a big lie. the "detroit free press" says it is a big lie. does mitt romney even care about the truth at all? obviously not. we'll get into that and a whole lot more here on the "full court press." but here she is lisa ferguson out in los angeles. >> good morning everyone. mitt romney is headed to florida today to host events with senator marco rubio and jeb bush. he starts off the date in tampa and then heads to coral gables and jacksonville. paul ryan will be campaigning in wisconsin. some are calling the pair's reemergence on the campaign trial after supposedly taking

time out out of respect for the hurricane victims. romney's official reason for the event yesterday was to collect donations for storm victims, but it sure looked a lot like a campaign, a big american flag on the wall campaign music, crowds and the press were invited. voters had to wait to drop off their donations until romney arrived to collect them himself. john mccain even went as far as to blast president obama on the benghazi attack. one other issue is romney's thoughts on fema. here he is yesterday. >> [ inaudible ]?

>> romney: why -- >> why don't you answer any questions about fema. >> nothing to say. more bill coming up after the break. highest priority on election day. besides, you can always dvr my show. you really cant' dvr the future of the country. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. so vote and vote smart.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: my new political hero, chris christie. he is saying lots of nice things about president obama today, and president obama is going up to new jersey today to tour the storm-ravaged areas with governor chris christie. good morning, everybody, welcome to the "full court press" right here on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio

station this wednesday morning. halloween, trick or treat. halloween has not been canceled or postponed, aren't you happy you will have all of those kids at your door this evening, begging for candy, unless you are taking your kids out on your own to let them beg for candy. glad to see you today, thank you for joining the show and encourage you to take full participation in the show give us a call at 866-55-press, go on twitter and join us @bpshow, facebook, at facebook@billpressshow, or go in the chat room at current.com. just click on the chat room and be connected with all of your fellow full court pressers from across the country. and carey, good friend of the program, hi, kerry good to see you. >> good to be here bill.

>> bill: you have your alaska suit on -- >> i do sarah palin would be envious. >> she road her bike over today. it is cold outside. >> it is. thank you. >> bill: in honor of chris christie i wear my fleece today. you dressed at chris christie for halloween. >> bill: yeah, i should put a few pillows in. the team is here peter ogburn and dan henning siprion bolling, with the give wave. we haven't given them a microphone yet -- >> because they are on probation. >> bill: exactly. president obama sidelined because of hurricane sandy, but joe biden still out there, michelle obama out there, and the big dog himself bill

clinton. >> oh, yeah yeah. >> bill: he raised an issue yesterday, i think he was in wisconsin or iowa -- >> minnesota. >> if i couldn't campaign, i think bill clinton would be a pretty good stand in. >> yes. >> bill: here is bill clinton. >> there are mayors who are being told you have to move these houses back from the ocean climate change is going to raise the water levels on a permanent basis. >> bill: let's get through the immediate relief efforts, and people are going to say, see climate change, see these water levels, this will be full-time levels, right? >> he managed to work in too that many of them are respects. >> bill: yeah, and bill clinton says i don't know why am i

working so hard. >> i have worked very hard in this election, and i'm not running for anything. [ laughter ] >> bill: but some people is saying he has his eye on 2016 not for him, but somebody close to him. [ laughter ] >> bill: kerry is here in the studio with us. fawn johnson will join us to talk about fema later in the hour. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> overhead lines making news luke sky walker and mickey mouse will soon be roommates. disney is buying lucas films for $4 billion. george lucas is retiring soon but will still do consulting for disney. they are plans for at least two

more star wars films after the one coming out. >> bill: this is ridiculous $4 billion? and he says they are going to go forward with star wars seven eight, nine. >> yeah. >> president obama's number one choice on tv is still to watch sports center. he said he still watches boardwalk, and he did note that his daughter had to show him how to record the shows. and they love to watch american family together. >> those are all solid choices. >> bill: they really are.

he watches sports and he watches these shows. he is up to date. >> google introduce a new phone and tablet yesterday. it's the same price as the iphone but has a larger charging ability. it is about the same size as apples new ipad but has a much better screen resolution. >> i'm not abandoning my iphone. >> i'm not either, but google is catching up. >> bill: i love my ipad, so they have a long way to go for me. now, kerry let's start out right now, it is your fault. >> no it has been my fault from way back, and i have accepted that --

>> evangelical preacher has said hurricane sandy is proof that god is destroying america for the political judgment of homosexuality. >> thank you! >> thanks a lot. >> when i saw this i thought this would have been such a missed opportunity if he hadn't had at least one preacher come out and blame it on the homos. >> yeah. >> bill: this is the same guy who blamed you and your -- never mind -- for hurricane isaac and hurricane katrina seven years ago -- both hit, i want to point out here both hit during the week of the homosexual event

called southern decadence in new orleans. >> this makes me a bad homo, but i have never even heard of southern decadence. >> it sounds cool. >> we let the straights in. >> i'm in. >> bill: how big of you. >> what it is is that we have a hot line to god, and we're pulling the strings behind the scenes. >> bill: i got it. you know zap him. there are four important ballot measures on the ballot this year, dealing with marriage equality, maryland maine, washington state is the -- well they are all big. >> yeah. >> bill: and then minnesota. what is the difference?

>> minnesota's is a constitutional -- anti-gay constitution issue. that would ban it. the other ones are affirmative, right? to maryland and washington both passed in the state legislature marriage equal this year but then anti-gay folks got enough signatures to get enough signatures to put it on the ballot. in maine it was sort of a heart breaker. so everybody is real cautious -- >> bill: so a yes in maryland a yes in washington state, a yes in maine will make marriage equality the law of the land. >> in those three states. >> bill: right. in minnesota a yes would put it in the constitution banning it. >> right. >> bill: so we want a yes vote

in maryland, maine, and washington, and a no vote in minnesota. >> right. the polling vote looks positive in all of the forward-leaning states. maine, maryland, and washington. it looks possible in every one of those states -- and as i mentioned last time the caveat is people don't want to tell pollsters on the phone that they are against marriage equality. >> bill: uh-huh. >> but i think we're poised to win maybe one of these -- at least one of these, and potentially more, and it would be historic just to win one. >> bill: yeah. has president obama helped the movement? >> yeah, there's no doubt in my mind that him coming out in support of same-sex marriage on may 9th of this year, made a

huge difference. at that point people have to grapple with, wait a second this guy wasn't for it -- well he was for it, then he wasn't for it and then he was for it. he was evolving on it but he did it and i find this hugely positive, and there are a couple of ways it made differences beyond just changing the conversation. when the president of the united states says i have struggled with this and coming out on the other side -- >> bill: yeah. >> do unto others as you would want them to do unto you, a golden rule type thing -- >> bill: not to mention the constitution -- >> yeah, but we argued that for years and that didn't seem very persuasive. but the other thing was -- so his campaign within the last

couple of weeks has come out and said he supports these measures. they have never named in the past a measure even when the discriminatory ones were happening, they hadn't said -- the president hadn't said i'm against discriminatory measures, but he wouldn't name them. finally in north carolina they had a campaign spokesperson say -- >> bill: he opposed it. >> yeah but now he is affirmatively on though record saying i think voters should vote for these promarriage issues. >> bill: mitt romney is always bragging -- well he doesn't brag that much about his record as governor in massachusetts. but he did say i want to be better on gay issues even than ted kennedy was.

but then went down to massachusetts in 2005 and talked about massachusetts allowing same-sex marriage and allowing gay people to adopt children, and here he is in 2005. >> romney: our society is supposed to be indifferent with the mother and father. we have been changed to change birth certificates to remove the phrase mother and father and replace it with parent, a and parent b. it's not right in paper or in fact. every child has the right to have a mother and a father. [ applause ] >> bill: even if they don't, he is going to force it. >> he is going to force it. and this was really good investigative reporting by "the

"boston globe."" what they found is when same-sex marriage became legal in massachusetts, they wanted to change the birth certificate. then moderate mitt in quotes you guys can't see me but -- [ laughter ] >> but he said no no, no. we're not going to do that. we are going to have each of these birth certificates approved by my -- and the hospitals of record are going to have to get permission to cross off father and put second parent, individually on each one of these. and that stigmatizes his kids

born to same-sex parents for years and years and years. and the lawyer at the public health department there said this is going to be awful for these kids. >> bill: next thing you know mitt will be saying they were all born in kenya. anyway, mitt romney caught in another lie. this reminds me of the video he said in boca raton saying the 47%. what romney really says behind closed doors when he is in front of a bunch of right-wingers. kerry is our guest. join the conversation at 866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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[♪ eerie music ♪] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: a little scary music reminding us it is halloween here. "full court press" coming to you nonetheless. kerry elevel in studio with us. peter ogburn what is going on on -- we talked to you earlier about chris christie now president obama's latest biggest, best friend. >> there is no doubt he is his biggest friend -- >> bill: i didn't mean it that way. >> low hanging fruit. jim says christie has earned my respect as well, he was obviously shaken tired and working like hell. bill says he is doing what he

obviously needs to do, but i still won't vote for him in 2016. >> bill: well more people will. kerry quick question on the follow-up on president obama. that was a bold thing for him to do -- >> to come out for same-sex marriage. >> has it hurt him in the polling? >> no. state and national polls have been consistently asking the question, regardless of who you are voting for, who do you trust to do a better job on abortion and gay marriage issues. and consistently he comes out ahead on that. 52 to 30%. so voters favor him over romney -- >> on that issue --

>> on that issue. as well as in virginia where a lot of people were really nervous about it. there was an october poll where they asked this early october, so obviously a lot has hand since then but on this particular issue, voters in virginia favored obama over romney 54 to 34. >> bill: why would any gay person vote for mitt romney? >> i don't know if they -- they just have to not be thinking about their rights. you know, there's -- the supreme court, the republicans have endorsed him. think they he will do some non-discrimination stuff, but he is very anti-marriage -- >> bill: yeah. kerry, you are the best. thanks so much.

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♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: trick or treat. happy halloween here on the "full court press" this wednesday october 31st of course, it is the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capitol and brought to you today by the international association of ironworkers. they are busy these days too, already starting to rebuild from hurricane sandy. the men and women of the ironworkers under president walter wise, the sky is the

limit for them you can find out more about their good work at their website, www.ironworkers.org. and we have been talking a lot this morning about the storm, the storm's impact and now storm recovery, and president obama is heading off to new jersey today with governor chris christie so assess the storm damage and look at it first hand, and also he will have with him, i'm sure fema administrator craig fewgate. one who has been following the work of fema particularly in this particular storm situation, fawn johnson with the national journal. thanks for coming in. >> good morning. >> bill: you have written watch what you say about fema. >> yeah, i always find it amusing politicians what they

say in the middle of a big storm that could be a potential problem like with what you saw with hurricane sandy, and you saw it earlier this year they had to shorten their convention for a couple of days because of the storm, right? >> bill: right. >> and it is interesting to see what people say in the immediate aftermath, and what you say when the weather is nice. >> bill: because disaster relief for the house republicans -- before we get to mitt romney. for the house republicans disaster relief has had no special cache' for them. >> no. but that's nothing -- that's nothing different from anything else -- >> bill: but when the storm comes, they turn around and say we need your help.

>> and also i think it is important to remember the different kinds of republicans we're talking about. any republican governor that has been hit by a stormor anything like that has no problem going to fema. they ask for help, and then it is generally granted. >> bill: interesting this morning, michael brown who of course we all know -- >> famous. >> bill: yeah he was having a big meal somewhere when katrina was happening, and didn't have time to give it his full attention, so did president bush. and yesterday michael brown criticizing president obama for acting too quickly. >> yeah, this is one of those big questions of how -- how soon -- how much do you try to scare people essentially.

and that's the non-partisan part of this question. there's the partisan angle to it, like i don't know if it would have been better to get people to wait until sunday so start preparing. and i think that's a debate that happens after -- >> bill: but back to what you said about the republican governors, i doubt that any of them are going to say, oh he gave his help too soon. >> yeah. i'm not sure where that came from, but then again these are people who have a history of speaking probably when they shouldn't -- >> bill: consider the source. i think you said it right. speaking of the governors on "good morning america" yesterday, chris christie didn't

hesitate. >> i have to say the administration, the president himself, and fema administrator, have been outstanding with us so far. we have a great partnership with them, and i want to thank the president personally, for his personal at attention to this. >> bill: putting politics aside, just looking at big storm, big response, i think you would have to agree that together they get pretty good remarks. >> absolutely. and that's what should happen. i don't see why there is an election in a week should change that. when i was writing this story, part of the reason i was writing the story because there was this breathless report about what governor romney had said a year ago. and i thought this is a broader debate of what should happen in

the absence of the storm. >> bill: so chris christie is recognizing the important role of fema. >> absolutely. >> bill: the important role of the federal government the leadership of president obama, but i don't want to dismiss so quickly what mitt romney did say, because this was in the primary in june 2011. and i did a little work on this last night. this was a cnn debate. the tornado had recently struck joplin, missouri, and fema was running out of money. and fema came to the republican house asking for more money. and republicans are saying we're not going to give you anymore money for disaster relief unless we can cut some money over here for health care or whatever.

and john king said there are some who said we should do away with federal disaster relief all together and give it to the states. what do you think about that? here is romney in 2011. >> romney: absolutely any time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and second it back to the states that's the right direction. or further second it back to the private sector that's even better. when we ask what should we cut, we should ask ourselves the next question, what should we keep. >> right. >> bill: piling any other spending on even disaster relief would be immoral. >> right. >> bill: so leave it up to the states, let me ask you, how many of these 14 states impacted by

hurricane sandy could do all of the rebuilding themselves. >> they wouldn't be asking for help from fema means they can't do it on their own. but that's the reason the agency exists, and one of the things i thought was interesting about that. what mitt romney was saying in that debate it's very clear. he is giving his sense of what the government should be like. but the thing i was paying at attention to was the way that john king asked the question. he asked it in kind of a fuzzy way. he said some people are thinking about eliminating fema or sending it back to the states but he didn't say which part he was asking romney exactly -- >> bill: no, no no.

he said we are better off to give it to the states or private business. >> right. >> bill: chris christie said they have to rebuild all of those beaches in new jersey. >> right. >> bill: 65% of beach replenishment. 65% is paid for by the federal government. so chris christie knows states can't do it without the federal government. >> chris christie is a great example of a republican governor in a state that has used federal money. i remember the debates about how much -- how much medicaid -- how much your -- your salary had to be in order to qualify for medicaid or some of these other health care benefits. it's a big deal in new jersey of course, because it's expensive to live there

especially the new york area. but it was not a partisan issue at the time. >> bill: so what i believe is sandy really illustrates the fundamental difference between obama and romney. which is obama believes there is an important role for the federal government and mitt romney thinks everything you can take away from the federal government -- i think it would be a disaster. >> ho sure. right. >> if 50 different states had to handle a natural disaster it wouldn't work. >> i don't want to be an over defender of romney, because he didn't say he wanted to get rid of fema. when i checked in with the campaign a couple of days ago,

what they said is they want the state government to have a strong role -- >> bill: but he is trying to have it both says now. fourteen time romney was asked are you going to get rid of fema. and fourteen times he refused to ask the question. >> i asked the campaign that question and they said no. >> bill: yeah. it changes from day-to-day. you have to watch this slippery guy. >> yeah. >> bill: we're talking about fema and what good marks they should be with getting -- or should there? give us a call at 866-55-press. >> announcer: chatting with you live this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. ♪

dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

the one time it's okay for you to miss my show is if that's the only time you can get to a polling place. make sure that voting is your highest priority on election day. besides, you can always dvr my show. you really cant' dvr the future of the country. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. so vote and vote smart. ♪

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. twelve minutes before the top of the hour. congressman joe courtney joins us in the next hour as well as neil king. right now we're visiting with fawn johnson from the national journal, and talking about fema, and how good of a job fema is doing. we're taking your calls at 866-55-press. we'll get back to fema in just a second. but first if you are having a hard time making ends meet here is something you ought to consider, offering an opportunity you can take

advantage of, you can literally earn money on your own laptop from your own kitchen table 24/7. so if you are sick of living paycheck to paycheck worried about job security or retirement, if your goal is to earn extra money from home part or full-time. incomeathome.com. check them out. they are even giving away a thousand bucks to somebody just for checking them out. incomeathome.com incomeathome.com. fawn thanks again for coming in. jimmy carter created the agency i believe. bill clinton brought james lee whit with him from arkansas and made him fema director, and then

george bush took it out of the cabinet, put it in the bowls of dhs -- >> yeah. >> bill: cut the budget and then katrina happened and fema wasn't up to the task. and now president obama has brought it back. and it does seem that we know now that fema has an important role, right? >> i think it's here to stay also, and i say this mainly just to go back to the beginning of the conversation we had earlier about how politicians can talk in theory about disaster relief but the second there is a disaster, all of that conversation changes. and the reason why fema is in existence, it's like a big disaster insurance policy that you would have if you broke your leg or something.

so that's why it is there. there is a debate on the margins that says how much money should fema have, especially if we think that states will put less in their reserves if they think that fema will bail them out, but i really think that is just a question of percentages. >> bill: but mitt romney is on the record to say he would put that responsibility on the states. >> right. >> bill: gina is calling from atlanta, georgia. good morning, gina? >> caller: good morning, let me give you kudos for pushing back on this young woman in your presence -- >> bill: she is a reporter i'm a commentator.

>> caller: this is the reason that journalism is having such a hard time. >> bill: oh come on what is your question. >> caller: let me finish -- >> bill: listen she is our guest, she has her opinion i have gone mine. gary is calling from virginia. >> caller: good morning. it seems like we are overlooking an obvious comment here and that is if you have the money funded at the federal level then you can balance that and return it to the states. if you return it to the states you going to be spreading it out, but not where it is needed. you can't send the funding back to the states because there will be all of those places where the disasters are go -- not going to hit, and they are not going to

give it up. >> bill: that's exactly right. there would be an uneven distribution. >> right. and one of the things that i find fascinating about this is there is the money issue, and the expertise, you have people who have to deal with disasters every single year. you don't come into the state unless the governor invites you for fema. but they may not have the money to build up all of that stuff. >> bill: it is the money and the expertise, and now is the time to recognize the great work that fema does, and why it has to be a federal responsibility and mitt romney is wrong to say we should leave it up to the states or haliburton. fawn johnson, thank you so much for coming in. >> my pleasure. ♪

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is though "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. ♪ of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our

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anything. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. in the next hour we'll talk to congressman joe courtney from connecticut. a lot of damage up in connecticut. find up more about it. and neil king will be here from the "wall street journal" as a friend of bill. president obama has one event on his schedule today after he gets the daily briefing he'll be

heading out to the andrew air force base and a short hop over to atlantic city new jersey. where he'll be met by governor chris christie. big moment for the president, staying on top of the storm damage, and certainly a big moment for governor christie. the president will be back at the white house at 4:25 pm this afternoon. hum, you think, will he come home with an endorsement from chris christie. i don't know. how far is chris christie willing to go in this little lovefest now for president obama. all right. stay with us one more hour coming up. >> announcer: this is the "bill

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[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: what do you say? good morning, everybody. well, i should say trick or treat. it's halloween. welcome to the "full court press" this wednesday october 31st. happy halloween. good to have you with us today. president obama heads for new jersey today to tour and visit those storm-damaged areas, talk to some residents there with governor chris christie. hey, wait a minute, isn't christie a big romney supporter?

well maybe chris christie realizes that romney is going nowhere in 2012 so chris christie is looking ahead to 2016. is that what this is all about? we'll talk about that, but first we'll start out with today's current news update. hi, lisa good morning. >> hey bill, good morning, everyone. less than one week to go until election day and the two candidates are on two very different paths for winning the white house. mitt romney -- paul ryan made two stops yesterday in minneapolis, st. paul.

and they called the state a unique opportunity for mitt romney. this is a recall of what we saw for john mccain in 2008. state polls are closing in. obama has at times lead romney by as many as 9 points in pennsylvania, now he leads by just 3. nationally the president is up 48-47, that is according to the new "new york times" cbs news poll. but the survey was conducted before hurricane sandy hit. obama has had a strong response to that storm, so we could see that have a positive effect for him in the polls. obama is still up in ohio but it's a much tighter race in virginia and florida.

the president now with 253 votes and romney with 206. more bill press right after the break. ♪ now? kind of guys who do like reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all of the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers, thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle-room in the ten commandments, is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. >> what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. brought to you by geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. visit geico.com for a free rate quote.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: i have a new political hero. chris christie, yeah that's why i'm wearing my chris christie fleece this morning. what do you say, everybody? great to see you. trick or treat, it is halloween, october 31st, the "full court press" coming live from our nation's capitol and inviting you to join us any way you can at 866-55-press.

give us a call follow us on twitter @bpshow. we have a very special guest in studio, stopped buy, he is going to new jersey later in the day, but stopped by here on his way to andrews air force base -- >> wow what an honor. >> bill, good to see you. >> bill: how are you and chris christie getting along? >> we're getting along famously. >> bill: all right, very good. >> hey happy halloween! >> i got that mask at target. >> bill: you did, woe? >> yeah, we noticed it needs to be a little grayer. >> bill: yeah, you brought this a couple of years ago. >> yeah, it is historically inaccurate. >> bill: it is pretty good.

thanks for getting into the spirit of the program here. i was waiting for the rest of the team to dress up today. >> sorry. >> dan dressed as a national's disgruntled fan. >> bill: so neil it's an exciting time time, right? >> six days to go is that where we are? >> bill: five -- no six. and who is talk about the campaign? >> everybody has moved in a lot of ways back to the campaign there is a lot of talk still about sandy. >> bill: unbelievable. we talked about it yesterday morning, wow what a storm, and when i saw the calculations on the news.

fourteen states 50 deaths so far, over 100 homes destroyed in that blaze at breezy point, the new york subway -- it is going to be -- >> weeks, yeah. >> bill: and we haven't heard the dollar figure on the beaches destroyed, it's just colossal. >> there was almost nothing of valuable that i was learning on television. >> you don't think it's valuable to see [ inaudible ] up to his waist in water? >> it was entertaining. >> bill: and the idea from 39th street south in manhattan was without power, that's a lot of real estate there. >> it went through maine last night, didn't it? >> bill: and still without power. >> and new york city caps under water, bentleys under water.

>> bill: bentleys under water oh, my god. >> one of my favorite tweets martha stewart tweeted 100 trees had gone down on her farm including one that blocked the gate, and one that went down on the guest house. >> bill: oh, no. we haven't had a chance to talk much sports. so there has been a lot of criticism of alex smith with the 49ers, not really being confident in himself. and jim harbaugh was asked about his confidence level. >> i think it's just a lot of gobble, gobble turkey. >> [ inaudible ]. >> just gobble gobble gobble

turkey. some jive turkey, it paints a pretty good picture. [ laughter ] >> he is a very confident guy. >> bill: gobble, gobble, gobble. [ turkey gobble sound. ] >> was that jim harbaugh. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> president obama still has an opportunity to turn in his college transcript and passport application to donald trump. donald tweeted because of hurricane sandy, and the president's obligations he is extending his deadline to give

away $5 million until tomorrow at noon. >> bill: couldn't donald trump use that $5 million to help his own city. >> yeah. >> bill: is anybody paying any attention of that. >> i'm officially as of yesterday, i just sort of said that's it -- if he has the $5 million, why not give it to his hometown or current city of new york? >> bill: yeah, do a thing with mayor bloomberg, give him a check, and say people need help and here it is. >> luke sky walker and mickey mouse will soon be partners. george lucas is retiring soon and selling lucas films to

disney for $4 billion. >> bill: i don't think lucas has to worry about his retirement anymore. i think he is set up. >> it was touch and go there for a while. [ laughter ] >> bill: in sports the orioles were the big winners yesterday. the orioles lead all majority leader teams with three players winning the golden glove awards. adam laroche of the washington nationals as to the yankees mark teixeira, and robinson cano. >> bill: no giants? >> i guess not. >> bill: not pablo? >> yeah, i guess not. >> bill: we have a lot to talk about in terms -- what is interesting to me the connection, the intersection between the storm and the election in so many different

ways. some -- early voting was interrupted. >> yeah, right. >> bill: some polling places are going to have to be changed. i watched scott pelley on cbs, all storm coverage. no political coverage. both campaigns have had to suspend campaign events, and one other interesting connection, the obama campaign is out with a new ad this morning, hasn't been heard anywhere else. woe have it exclusively on "full court press." >> i have to say the administration, and fema director has outstanding so far. i appreciate the president's leadership and telephone call and if we do need something i have got the number and i'll be sure to use it. i want to thank the president

personally for this personal at attention. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> you guys are making ads now? >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> bill: what do you think? >> he is a big figure in the republican party there's no doubt about that. >> bill: first of all this is what the governor ought to do. he ought to be pumping for his state, with getting every penny he can for the people of his state, and caring about his state, right? and where is the help coming from? not mittens. it's fema and obama and the president seems to be from all indications -- he is on it. right? and in fact, dan, this was very

interesting yesterday -- yesterday morning chris christie did all of the morning shows. and so he went on fox and friends. and fox and friends wanted to get mitt romney in new jersey. i was watching right here on the monitor, and while christtive was on, they had the headline on that said romney to visit new jersey shorelines. >> with a question mark? >> bill: no, a fact. here is the exchange. >> is there any possible they governor romney may go to jersey to tour some of the damage with you. >> i have no idea nor aim concerned or interested. i have a job to do in new jersey that is much more important than presidential politics.

i have a job to do. i have got 2.4 million people out of power, floods in the northern part of my state, if you think right now, i give a damn about presidential politics, then you don't know me. >> bill: bingo. >> yeah. this just sucked the oxygen in a big way out of the campaign and a key moment for mitt romney. this is a time when he had momentum that seemed to be building incrementally in some places that mattered and this has been a big diversion of attention certainly towards the core competency of a president. >> bill: do you think we can looks politically at sandy, and that it helps obama more than romney? >> i think there is no doubt that it does that, and it does it at a time when obama needed a topic change in a way, one that favored him, and all of this is just movement in inches.

it's just extraordinary how close this race is. and at least in these polls, obama is ahead, florida, virginia and ohio. and that's is where this thing is tilting, it is just an incredibly difficult map for romney to navigate. >> bill: "wall street journal" i think is one of the most credible polls, and yet your poll showed 47-47 on the national poll. how do you explain that? >> it's not as if the national numbers are going to be wildly different from the states, but there are states that are standing out there in a strange island. there has been one poll in a month and a half that put romney up in ohio and that was a

rasmussen poll like two days ago. we have one coming out this sunday which will be the last that we do. he was very big in the south. mitt romney's numbers are really big in texas and other places that don't necessarily matter. obama's numbers are going to be fairly mediocre in blue states so we're seeing a little bit of an imbalance. and then just the difficulty of these states that need to be won desperately by mitt romney. he should own florida right now for his own safety and he is campaigning there. he is having to go full out, at the time when they are expanding the map.

it's the kind of defensive offense. they need to open the map in order to make the map better. >> nate silver says now president obama, it's a 75% chance when you analyze all of the polls and factors, 75% chance of winning. >> i don't know if i would put it that high. in-trade has it at like 66% for obama. if you had to bet on it what would you bet? and i think reuters had something like 55% of people saying no matter what the nation was, they thought that obama was going to win, and only 39% thought romney would win. it is never good going into the first tuesday of november to be seen as the person that is going to lose.

i think no matter what happens, romney gets at least 48%. i think this is going to be a 48.5 to 50-point-whatever. but right now obama appears to be more likely to win. >> bill: "wall street journal," political reporter here as our guest as a friend of bill this hour. and mitt romney doubling down on his claim that president obama wants to help move chrysler and gm jobs to china. what about that? we'll get into that and a whole lot more, your calls welcome at 866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on

in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now. ♪ ♪ the trucks are going farther. the new 2013 ram 1500. ♪ ♪ with the best-in-class fuel economy. engineered to move heaven and earth. ♪ ♪ guts. glory. ram.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: twenty-five minutes after the hour. congressman courtney joins us and neil king from the wall street journal will be up in the next segment. neil, i mentioned the war over the auto bailouts still going on in ohio. obviously president obama was gaining some ground with the workers of ohio and the romney campaign realized that so they have come out with oned a, and now a second ad caming that what the president really is doing is sending jobs to make -- making the jeep chrysler and gm are both going to take jobs out of ohio and take them to china to make jeeps which by the way the

auto manufacturers have said is not true. >> yeah normally the campaigns are like here is an ad take a look at it -- but not in this case. it was very under the radar. but name another time in the final days of a presidential campaign when two large u.s. companies come out and call basically a republican campaign -- this is cynical campaign politics at itself worst. >> bill: they have both basically said that romney is lying. they are building the jeep in ohio today, will continue to build the jeep in ohio today, but at the same time they are expanding their factories to other countries. so they are going to build jeeps to sell to chinese drivers and

expanding their production here. so there are two things there. how can mitt romney get away to just continue to tell this lie when both companies say it is not true. >> dubious things happen all the time -- >> bill: but usually they are sketchy. >> yeah, in the ad itself they did not overtly say they are moving production -- >> bill: yes but that's what they want people to believe. and the other is -- i wonder -- and we're out of time here, but i'll raise the question is mitt romney really saying that american companies don't have a right to expand their production in other countries as long as they are not taking jobs from this country. you wouldthy bain capital would

understand that. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ vote on november 6th but just as importantly to take the time to learn about each candidate's stance on the issues that matter to you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. vote smart. our democracy depends on an informed electorate.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio, and on current tv. >> bill: what do you say? it's thirty-three minutes after the hour. welcome to the "full court press" on current tv and your local progressive talk radio station, brought to you today by the sheet metal workers international association. giving a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, you bet. find out more at their website,

smwia.org. neil king is here from the wall street journal as a friend of bill this hour together with the rest of the team. we were talk earlier about the impact of hurricane sandy fourteen states affected. and joining us from the good state of connecticut a good friend of the program, congressman bill courtney. >> good morning, bill and neil. >> bill: did you lose power to your home? >> oh yeah. this is the third hit between irene, the freak snow storm almost a year ago, and now sandy. i'm heading now down to the

shore to meet the governor and we have communities still that are 100% out. and maybe some of the focus and obviously the path of the storm hit hardest in new jersey and new york, but long island sound was definitely affected. mystic where i am headed, i'm sure probably both of you have been through there, they are 100% out and they have no break water on long island sound. so when you stand on the point there, the next stop is europe. and they really got slammed hard. >> it is just amazing when states like florida, and that area was thought to be on the hurricane path. and now this. >> yeah, i have lived here my whole life and i'm 59 so this

is actually the fourth event in '09 which required fema help. so, yeah i'm getting to be an old hand at dealing with fema. >> bill: in this storm to the extent that you have been involved in conversations, do you feel fema has been there on the job? >> absolutely. the president declared three of four counties new london middlesex, fairfield county and i believe a portion of [ inaudible ] county disaster areas, which -- again, we actually had to fight for that designation and that flooding storm i mentioned earlier, to get that declaration done quickly and right away i tell

ya it provides a solid sense of confidence -- >> bill: what does it mean? >> it means if you are the mayor of new london and basically has no cash reserves it means you can send your police and fire -- you can spend some money in terms of dealing with the real -- sandbags and really down to earth bread and butter stuff and not be panicking about the fact that you may be capsizing your city's finances because you know you are going to have that reimbursement waiting for you. i will tell you from dealing with local officials, that gnaws at them. these are expensive undertakings. >> bill: yeah, you deal with the storm and then you have to deal with the rebuilding.

>> absolutely. sadly i was in clinton, connecticut, yesterday, where, again they got bombed a year ago, and we saw homes that have been rebuilt that have just completely been redamaged again. that's the other aspect you get homeowner's assistance business assistance, and the municipal assistance is to make sure people say safe and warm. >> so to move to cross political issues -- is that permitted bill? >> bill: yes. >> people were talking about connecticut going a little soft for obama. i assume you are not seeing much evidence of that still? >> most of the most recent polls have him back in double-digit territory, and again it's not going to be a 28-point win like

it was four years ago -- >> bill: [ inaudible ]. and how about the senate race? >> again one of the things i must comment on is the fact that, you know, during the height of the storm and the damage and human pain that was out there, to have mcmahon just continue to run this avalanche of attack messages i heard people at the shelters who were just absolutely disgusted with the fact it was so dissident from what was going on around people. but having said all of that there are a couple of points that have chris up now five or six points and it's all about turnout. my district is the part of the state that doesn't know chris as well, just because we're as far

away as you can get. and we are working hard to help chris, and were up until the storm hit. and how the storm affects the final outcome, i can't figure that out, but i do think mcmahon has really overdone it. she has been recutting ads, literally overnight. >> bill: congressman joe courtney our guest from the state of connecticut. i want to come back to just to pick up one final point on the fema thing. mitt romney is devilled by reemergence of an answer he gave back in june 2011 when he said federal disaster relief ought to be relegated back to the states. let the states take care of it.

so my question to you is what capacity would connecticut have to take care of its storm damage all by itself if there were no fema. >> well, [ inaudible ] i think has done a heroic job of trying to, you know, really stabilize the finances which were bleeding when he took office. so you would think well, here is a state that can actually pull its own weight but the fact is these events are not something you can build into a state budget or into a town or city budget, particularly ones that are -- like new london, you know riding on fumes, so, you know, again the description i gave in terms of what fema's designation means for people doing everything they can to

save lives, i don't think it's hyperbole, i think it's real. and his comments show a real disconnect of the reality of how you deal with these events. >> bill: it is true when these natural disasters occur, that all governors have their hands out, red states and blue states republicans and democrats, right? where do they turn? >> yeah, and, you know, chris christie certainly ill stated that in the last few days. >> bill: yeah, he has. >> fema was -- didn't come out of the blue because of a big government philosophy. i think it came out of reality and experience of unplanned-for experience, and that you have to have a safety net so people can respond and recover. >> bill: congressman, you have

been on the show several times and in studio here and i thought we knew you pretty well but i picked up the "new york times" a couple of weeks ago, and i read you have a nickname in connecticut of two subs joe -- >> two foot longs. >> bill: right. [ laughter ] >> bill: well, so you expanded the production there of the nuclear power subs in grautin from one year to two years, is that right? >> that's right. when i was elected in '06, the production was limping along. it was slated to really dip below levels that the navy said wouldn't make commission requests. and i worked with others and we were able to boost the

shipbuilding, and stabilized the ship yard. >> bill: not many members of congress can point to this and be really concrete, and say i did this. and here you are, two subs joe. [ laughter ] >> bill: congratulations, and best to the people in storm's way up in connecticut. >> great to be with you. thanks neil. >> thank you. >> bill: all right. we'll be right back, more with neil king. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ >>only on current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me.

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>> announcer: chatting with you life, at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: all right. twelve minutes now before the top of the hour. neil king is here in studio with us. we'll get back to your calls about sandy, and mitt romney's misleading auto ad and all of the rest, but first how would you like to get this news a major u.s. banking institution, told customers that two of their unencrypted backup tapes which include extensive customer information had disappeared in transit last march. oops. there you go.

identity theft making its ugly face known once again. life lock ultimate call now, mention press 60 for 60 risk-free days of protection. if if you are not happy give them a call within another 60 days, cancel and get a full refund. call life lock ultimate now, 1-# 00-356-5967. peter ogburn you have been sitting there patiently listening to our conversation. >> on twitter @bpshow, we have gotten a lot of comments because we talked about chris christie chris christie and the good job he is doing, but one thing that

has stuck with a lot of people is bloomberg said he didn't want the president to come to new york city. >> bill: and? >> my take is that new york city is so congested and if you drop the president into a spot like that it will become more chaotic times ten. >> bill: i think for obama's part staying out of new york city is a smart move. >> he would have to land outside of new york city and then get into new york city. >> bill: once you get into that grid of manhattan -- >> i highly doubt obama even wanted to go to new york. >> you are probably right. we are seeing the pictures of the traffic in new york city and yeah it is a little

congested. >> bill: so we can layoff -- >> layoff michael bloomberg on that. he is doing the night thing. >> bill: neil interesting this morning, there are several stories about senate races, showing scott brown -- well -- elizabeth warren up in massachusetts, "new york times" reporting tim kaine up in virginia, bill nelson up -- >> big in florida, yeah. >> and there was one third one, democrat up in -- >> we have wisconsin -- >> bill: sherrod brown of course. and you might ad tammy bald win. >> yeah, it is just amazing. another one that is amazing, is berg.

that is a very competitive race too. >> bill: yes, and then claire mccaskill -- >> and indiana. >> bill: nobody thought we would win indiana, and then richard mourdock comes along. thank the tea party for that. so in terms of the senate winning the republican hand -- >> it is hard to see where all of the gains are going to come from, and in the places where they need to get holds, it looks like they could conceivably pull that off. so much money has gone into those races. >> bill: the story that i -- 30 seconds ago, the story i want you to when this is all over is to analyze whether all of the money the super pacs have spent

worked. >> yeah, so far it doesn't look too promising, but we don't know yet. >> bill: we don't know yet, but it doesn't look like they are getting the bang for the buck that we feared. >> it doesn't look like it. >> bill: so there may be a threshold. >> and it's harder than people think to move votes by tv ads. >> bill: uh-huh. campaigns really in the end do matter. >> and the candidates matter. >> and you can't sell a turkey no matter how much money you pour in. all right. i look forward to the final chapter of that. barack obama, neil king thank you for coming in today, always a pleasure to have you in studio. >> appreciated it. >> bill: i'll be back with

today's parting shot. >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show."

start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

♪ >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: and on this halloween morning my parting shot for today, while hurricane sandy may be gone, but she left behind more than a path of death and destruction, she also left behind a powerful message which is this, be ware of mitt romney. because it illustrates more than anything else the fundamental difference between obama and romney and the keyish glue this

campaign. which are boils down to this obama believe there is an important role for the federal government in certain areas, and mitt romney does not. he hates the federal government and thinks everything is better off with the states or by private companies. health care give it to the states, roe v. wade give it to the state, and he says the same thing about disaster relief. there should be no more fema in mitt romney's world. let the states respond to natural disasters in their own way, which would be a disaster. hurricane sandy illustrates how long the tea party is how wrong mitt romney is and also dangerous. have a good one. see you right back here tomorrow

morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪